Behind the Stage
by Kuroi Mercenary
Summary: Sync had been the one that seen everything, well, that be overestimating. He simply observed from the audience from start to finish of Asch little jealousy toward the happy couple: Luke and Tear. When things seem to remain peace, excluding jealous Asch, everything spiral downward from the stage to behind the scenes. Possibly M for sexual content later. AU, Yaoi, and OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of the Abyss, it belongs to Namco rightfully.  
**Summary:** Sync had been the one that seen everything, well, that be overestimating. He simply observed from the audience from start to finish of Asch little jealousy toward the happy couple: Luke and Tear. When things seem to remain peace, excluding jealous Asch, everything spiral downward from the stage to behind the scenes.  
**Pairing:**  
Main- AschxLuke  
One-sided- LukexTear, AschxNatalia  
Others- JadexGuy  
Hinted- Original!IonxArietta and SyncxIon  
**Warning:** AU, Yaoi, possible sexual content, OOC, and bit of drama.

Rant: I wanted to get some of this...LukexTear out of my system originally, but it turned out to be a first LukexTear and then an AschxLuke story. But, if possible I'll put up a LukexTear oneshot that is related to this one. Also, there will be only three chapters to this story.

**Helpful Tips:**  
Lorelei- Present time.  
"Lorelei" –Present time speaking  
_Lorelei_- Flashback  
_"Lorelei"_ –Flashback talking/Present time thoughts  
_**"Lorelei"**_ –Flashback Thoughts.=  
**Lorelei**- Titles/Setting/Dates/Emphasis/Diaries/Phone or Online talking  
**Lorelei**- Chapter Titles/Newspaper Article/Posters

**Introduction: Rainy Days**

_**Upala High School Private Academy in N.D. 2017 in the location of Grand Chokmah, Northern Rugnica **_

In the elite school brimming of cool ocean colors, stone white marble buildings, and golden rimmed flags hanging proudly with the insignia of the Malkuth territory. Beyond the gates of the Upala High School Private Academy were students left and right heading into the building, school uniforms mandatory as the females wore a white buttoned up dress shirt underneath a Prussian blue trimmed with tan color coats with the matching, only the same shade of blue, skirt. The males wore the same colors, except with a more masculine shirt and coat with pants. Both outfits' collars held a ribbon, different color ribbons signifying the different years they are in. Bright crimson for freshmen, a pale yellow for sophomores, a myrtle representing the juniors and the seniors wore ultramarine ribbons. Of course, they were free to wear any kind of bags to carry their textbooks and supplies around along with their lunch boxes.

Chatter was loud among the groups of students, from everywhere it went from left to right to up and down. There wasn't even a moment of silence unless someone found a good spot to rid away of all the excitement going on. And there was that one good person that found a good spot indeed, a rather emerald hair tousled and spike up freshmen indicting on the red ribbon he wore around his collar loosely, his outer coat loose by a button and the inside of his white shirt showed his neck more by slightly. The emerald haired boy position was laidback, pressing against the trunk of a tree by his back with his hands behind his hand, and his bag sitting rather lethargy a few inches away. His eyes were closed, relaxing underneath the shade of the tree as the gentle autumn wind brush against his spiky hair and shook the trees lightly. Soft, unheard breathings slip from the boy lips, his chest lifting up and down with air slowly, letting himself enjoy this moment of relaxation without interruption.

The bell ranged, the long minute hands hitting the 10th of the 7th shorthanded hour that signaled that students would not have long until class began, the thinnest and longest second hand tick and tock slowly. The vicinity of the courtyard dwindled down quickly, leaving only the lazy, the rebellious or the overslept ones that were rushing at this minute. The emerald haired boy still slept through; unaware of the light crunching of the grass being pressed by a weight nor the girls and few men alike stared at the figure that was headed to the sleeping boy. The figure was a junior by the myrtle ribbon he wore around his collar, his uniform neatly ironed without a wrinkled and all buttoned up, matching the school strict regulations. A brown bag held in one hand while there was another bag strap against one of his shoulder, recognized being one of the Kendo club members. His blood red hair reaching his back sway slightly against the wind, his bangs pulled back that reveal his stern looks. The sharp green eyes laced with annoyance, matching the scowling face he had that didn't deteriorate his handsome looks as he stopped in front of the emerald haired freshman. He didn't say a word nor moved from that point, simply narrowing his eyes down to a glare and expected for the freshman to wake up about this time. If he weren't the one that was ordered to make sure this lettuce head, that is slacking off at the very moment, to attend class there would be no point in staying around here longer.

Eventually, the emerald haired freshmen stirred from his slumber as if he had sense a threatening presence looming over him. His lids slid up, revealing matching emerald eyes glinting with annoyance despite his tired face. He sat up slowly straighter, his hands falling to his side, and brought a knee up against his chest to rest one of his arm around the said knee. The emerald haired freshmen tilted his head up to stare at the blood haired man with a rather annoyed look, a brow rose in question that earned the blood haired junior intensified glare in return and crossed his arms. Obviously, he was not pleased while staring down at the emerald haired boy.

"About time you woke up. I was thinking of ditching you here to sleep and head to class, Sync." The blood haired man simply stated with a rather snobbish tone, showing his moody moods.

"Never asked you to look after me, Asch." Sync retorted sluggishly, covering a big yawned and stretched his arms.

"You never did, I didn't want to, but it was Van orders to make sure you don't do something reckless."Asch paused a bit, glancing around briefly before adding something. "Also, Ion wanted to make sure you don't get any stupider than you need to."

The blood haired man smirked slightly at the pink present on Sync cheeks. He silently watched in amusement as the emerald haired boy stood up abruptly, grabbing his bag and glared at Asch with the blush still present. Sync wasn't happy hearing that.

"Don't mention Ion!" The emerald haired boy hissed quietly, closing his eyes to calm himself down and return to his cool façade. He grumbled to himself for a minute, shoving one of his hands into his pants pockets and the other held the brown bag.

"…Whatever." The blood haired man shrugged, not at all threatened by that. Uncrossing his arms, he let them rest against his side and held his own brown bag, turning around as he began to walk away from Sync sleeping spot. He spoke, glancing over at Sync as he did. "I rather hurry up and get to class if I were you. In case you might make Ion sad again."

Asch took a step to the left at an incoming rock aimed for his head, not bothering to glance at the rock clattering against the stone ground, and smirked once again at Sync, who looked rather irritated now. Ignoring whatever the lettuce head had to say, the blood haired junior turned around once again to head inside the building yet stopped midway to stare at something. He didn't bother to notice Sync walking up to him, who had something to say, but didn't say anything when the emerald haired freshmen saw the dark scowl Asch had on his already stern features. Sync frown a bit as well, looking over to where Asch was looking to only give a slow nod of realization.

There was a rather beautiful junior standing near the gates, her long brown hair sway slightly against the wind while she brush a strand away from one of her uncovered eyes. A rather worried and embarrassed blush present on her cheeks while waiting for someone, holding the brown bag with cute little charms and a sky colored Cheagle key chain with both hands against her front. She had the body that women would be jealous of and men would lust for, but her rather cold personality from years under her strict guardians made it rather unapproachable for others except for those close to her. The one close to her had seen beyond that cold façade the brunette put and was now arriving at the gates.

And it was that person that Asch held his gaze on, staring at what looks to be his twin with an unreadable look. Yes, the junior arriving just now toward the brunette would be considered his twins if it weren't for the stated papers saying they were unrelated. Another thing was that his twin was the total opposite of him, more personality than appearance wise. Unlike the blood red hair Asch had, the other had a lighter red; auburn would be the better term that stopped at the base of his neck. The auburn haired junior at the gates had a happier air about him, cheerful with his warm smiles and round childish eyes that could be considered a puppy in anyone eyes if observed close enough. Also, the blood haired man twin uniform had his ribbon loose while his shirt and coat buttons were left neatly as it is. He too carried the official brown bag, but also carried a bag strapped against his shoulder signifying he too was in the Kendo club.

"So known happy couple of the school….Tear Grants and Luke Lorelei Flammel…is it…?" Sync scoff at that, looking a bit disgusted at the lovey-dovey scene.

The auburn haired junior, Luke had clapped his hands together and was apologizing frantically, trying to gain Tear forgiveness for being late with an apologetic smile. There had been some light scolding from the brunette, who shook her head simply and sighed before smiling at him. Light glinted in Luke eyes, giving a bright smile to his girlfriend, and moved to kiss her lips briefly. Of course, this earned a rather blushing red Tear who was embarrassed at her boyfriend overly display of affections and scolded him once more. But that only made Luke grin more, grabbing her hand and the happy couple walked down toward the school building while they had the time to head to class. Both talking and chatting happily about random subjects Luke bought up.

"I hope you're not going to get into your jealous tendencies, Asch." The emerald haired freshman glanced at Asch now when the couple passed them by without a care.

If it were any normal situation, he would be taking pictures on his phone right this minute on the most amusing faces Asch had ever made. The one dubbed as the Ice Prince of the Fabre household, genius and athletic, ignoring all of the heart-throbbing girls and boys that swoon over him and wanted to be his friend or lover, was jealous. Rather, seeing how much of a murderous look Asch had, Sync didn't even bother to think about taking his phone out. But that didn't stop any teasing.

"…Shut up…" The blood haired man grumbled the angry scowl evident on his face.

"There's princess Natalia, who you broke the engagement with when you realized your love for a certain redhead." Sync suggested innocuously.

"…She's not Luke." Asch muttered once more before ignoring lettuce head and had to head to class now. He didn't want to be late nor want to talk about his personal love life with Sync of all people.

The emerald haired freshmen shrugged and said no more, knowing this subject was a bit too touchy for Asch. Not like it mattered, he teases him about it later then, consequences be damned. It was too fun to watch Asch squirm and go into a rampage. Sync, who would rather not risk seeing Ion sad, had headed to the building shortly after Asch to get to class.

First period was Professor Dist of…Biology if he remembered.

Ugh, he always wondered if that Professor can ever teach properly without going into a speech of his "best friend", Professor Jade Curtiss. That overly flashy outfit of Professor Dist was pink. Always pink this, pink that, his hair was bit of a pink and even his lips had pink LIPSTICK on.

Maybe it should've been better if he went to the rooftop instead and escape Asch moodiness and being a nag all the time.

* * *

Inside the white marbled school building, there was the main entrance that consisted of the lobby, the cafeteria up ahead with smaller common rooms, and a small store to provide supplies. There were at least four entrances that lead to a different section of the school that consisted mainly of the years. One section belongs to freshmen, sophomores and so forth. The fifth hallway belonged mainly to the teacher's offices and one of the many libraries. There is also another section extended from the fifth hallway that leads to the athletics area, mainly for classes and clubs. Added, there was another building whose purpose was the auditorium. The many floors above the main entrance consisted of many fine arts classes, musical, more libraries and a few infirmary rooms. However, the final two floors at the top are restricted from student's uses and belonged mainly to personal use of the teachers and the headmaster. Students were not allowed, ever, unless summoned or invited for reason. Finally, there are the dorms that are separate buildings, not too far from the school. Naturally there were two different sections based for gender. One for the girls and the other for males with a dorm leader that are usually a senior with assistances to keep everything in order and make sure the students are hooligans. Students assigned to their rooms are separated by years, consisting of each floor enough for the amount of students unless they said students have a home already in Grand Chokmah. Two students per room were enough less there are some that prefer to sleep alone or there were an extra student added.

Granted, students were also allowed to walk around Grand Chokmah leisurely after school hours or during their free weekends for an entire year.

Back to the morning of the first period (Physics) in the juniors section, within Class J-1, where the students chat and had their free time before their professor, Jade Curtiss entered to start class. Luckily for Luke, who is usually oversleeping due to his dorm mate, Asch Fon Fabre, not waking him up in time to prepare to school. The auburn haired man sighed at the small recent memory, very relieved that Tear had forgiven him for his tardiness at least. Tear was always forgiving for something simple, his stupid mistakes resulting from his not so bright mind.

Tear.

His girlfriend he had been going out since the start of their sophomore year and they were declared as a happy couple from their peers. They had some ups and downs, but they were happy about the progress of their relationship. Normally right about now, they would have to take it to the next step, but Tear said to wait a while longer and wait he did since two months ago. Luke would always wait until she was ready, but some things had been off that he had begun to notice.

Luke nuzzled against his arms he used as his pillow against his desk and glance over at Tear sitting next to the window, talking to a sophisticated looking blond woman, having that air of royalty is none other than Natalia, princess of the Kimlasca-Lanvalder, in their girls' conversation. He didn't realized he had been staring at his girlfriend smiling shyly for so long that Tear glance at his direction and looked a bit…nervous? It seemed the brunette realized something and turned her head back quickly to talk to Natalia, a faint blush on her face as they continued their conversation. He frowned at this, not liking at it all.

_"Why did she look…nervous for a moment…?"_ The auburn haired man thought to himself before moving his head to look somewhere else. Something to pass the time until their professor comes in.

There was Asch a seat away to his left reading his book as usual, glaring at anyone that approaches him, be it friendly or cocky. Luke couldn't help chuckle softly at that, typical of Asch, the Ice Prince to act like that. He did wonder why the blood haired man broke off his engagement with Natalia; he heard it from Guy when the blond tried to cheer her up during that time as a friend. It seemed Asch wasn't interested or loved someone else, it was unclear for now.

Speaking of Guy, he raised his head up slowly and looked around for familiar spiky blond head. Guy was usually earlier than him and that sort of worried him. He knew the blond can take care of himself, but this was his best friend and there was something he needed to talk about. He frown at that, about to look for more when the door slid open and everything happened in an instant.

Students went to their seats and sat down quickly, all ready with their books and pencils ready. Their posture straight and respectful, smiling ever so cheerfully it looked force (with the exception of Asch and few others). Every pair of eyes watch as a man in his thirties walked inside, shoulder length dark blond hair contrasted the blue suit he wore, making his pale skin stand more. His crimson eyes tilted up to stare at the students of the room through his glasses, a smile stretch against his face showed that he was pleased with the students' behavior. He walked over to his desk in front of the chalkboard and places his bag down, pulling out a folder with all of the student names inside and looked over at his class once more.

"Good morning to you all, I hope you all had a good weekend and did the essay I assigned you all last week."

"Yes, Professor Curtiss." All the students, with an exception of a few, synchronized.

"Good, please do hand them all in while I take roll. " Professor Curtiss ordered, but sent a glance over at Luke, who noticed it immediately and glared. The smile grew on the crimson eye man face, a teasing one as he added. "Through I expect a few like Flammel sitting over there looking like a zombie would forget his essay."

Snickers occurred, even Asch smirked at that and glance over at Luke rather snobbishly. Tear covered her smile with her hand, hoping to not seem rude toward her boyfriend. Whispers erupted at Luke embarrassment for the day, harassed by the famous Professor Jade Curtiss himself. The auburn haired man eye twitch, crossing his arms and slouch against his seat with a pout.

"I did it…and I'm not a zombie." Luke muttered back weakly.

Thankfully for Luke, no one particularly bothered to ridicule him for Professor Curtiss little teasing. It was normal for Professor Curtiss to act like a rather blunt and sarcastic person toward his students, making slightly insulting remarks despite his variety of knowledge.

Most of all, no one wished to test Professor Curtiss patience. The last person that did have been punished that would have been considered breaking the rules within school grounds, but the professor was an exception. It was allowed for Professor Curtiss long as the person isn't dead.

No one said it be traumatizing for that person through that he had to be moved to a different class.

Roll call went by quickly, a chorus of "here" in many notes. Yet the auburn haired man stared at the empty seat in front of him where his blond friend usually sits. He remembered seeing Guy yesterday, looking quite all right, did something happened to him?

"Looks like everyone is here, let's start class now." Professor Curtiss concluded with a smile, closing the folder and turned around mid-way until a student spoke up.

"Professor, Cecil isn't here!"

"Oh? I know, Mr. Cecil informed me he wouldn't be here today, because he felt rather unwell and took a day off." The crimson eyed professor reassured the students using the same smile that won't accept any questions.

"...This makes me wonder if I should look for Guy or not later…." The auburn haired man sweat drop, thinking he might leave that matter alone till during lunch or after school hours.

The students never asked anymore seeing that Professor Curtiss gave that look that spoke loudly "Do not ask or else" since they all treasured their sanity (and lives).

The morning classes passed rather quickly today, the formerly sunny morning was beginning to become cloudy instead. A few students brought umbrellas in case since there was news that predicted it would rain, yet so far there was not a drop of water. It was lunch time however for the students and break time for the teachers. Students either headed down to the cafeteria at the main entrance or those that brought their own lunches stayed in their classrooms with tables moved into groups.

Tear had her bag on her desk, pulling out a bento with a pink cloth and little patterns on it and stood up slowly after she put her bag back on the hook on the side of her desk. The brunette about to leave with her lunch stopped, looking up to see Luke that approach her with a cheerful grin and held up his own lunchbox.

"I didn't forget my lunchbox this time! So we can find somewhere to eat if you want, Tear." The auburn haired man informed her happily.

"I'm glad, that you didn't forget or else you have to wait in line while your stomach is growling." Tear smiled softly, her cheeks pink at the overly cute boyfriend standing in front of her now.

"Then….Do you wanna find a spot right now, Tear…?" Luke asked shyly, staring at Tear as his girlfriend nodded. It was a sign for the auburn haired man to grab her hand and held it, which earned a blushing Tear who was still embarrassed by this despite the months they've been together. No less, Luke was happy, holding Tear hand as they left the classroom and talked about the classes today while finding a spot.

On the other side, there was a certain blood haired that is appearing grumpier than usual when he spotted Sync just outside one of the smaller lunch commons. Asch had not seen the happy couple due to force to leaving earlier the moment the last of their classes ended before lunch when the Supervisor of the Kendo Club and History teacher, Professor Van Grants, needed to speak to him about the club. He was the Captain after all and there were some arrangements needed to be done for the summer matches later on. Also, he was required to find Sync once again since the lettuce head had been skipping his Algebra and Biology classes and that had been reported to Professor Grants. This ruined the blood haired man mood, because it had taken up most of his time to eat when he can.

Currently however, Asch was sitting close to the emerald haired freshmen and eating his lunch quietly, munching rather angrily. Sync raised a brow at the munching noises, sipping his juice box through a straw and pulled it away to speak.

"Isn't someone moodier than usual?" The emerald haired freshmen had stated than questioned nonchalantly.

"Your fault I had to spend some of my time, because YOU skipped classes." The blood haired junior retorted after swallowing his food and pointed his chopsticks at Sync, glaring even.

"Um…Can I sit here, you two….?" A meek voice spoke out of nowhere, forcing the two men to look over to find a girl. She was rather short in height, her appearance looking more like a middle school student than a high school student if it weren't for her uniform. She was a sophomore even from the pale yellow ribbon indicated around her collar. Her long and bright pink hair stopped against her back, her round ruby eyes stared at the two shyly as she clutched a sewn ghost looking doll in her arms and in her hand was a green bento.

There was a shrug from the emerald haired freshmen and a slight nod from the dubbed Ice Prince.

"You don't have to ask, Arietta." Asch reminded before going back to his lunch now.

"I-I know, but…" Arietta stuttered, taking her seat next to Sync and put her doll down next to her. She places her lunch box on her lap and unfolds the cloth, lifting the lid up and started eating with her chopsticks. Her ruby eyes glance over to the group of girls in the same year as her were chatting, but once the group of girls made eye contact with Arietta, she moved her glance away back to her lunchbox. Snickers can be heard while they continued walking, minding their own business now.

"…Never cease to amaze me how idiotic people can be." Sync commented, his eyes narrowed slightly at this and took a bite of his sweet bread.

"I'm sorry to trouble you all…" The pinkette apologized softly, looking guilty.

"Don't apologize…The people that attend this school, majority of them are nobles. Not very surprising in what they do in their spare time." Asch grumbled, done with his lunch now and sipping his bottle of water. He too was a noble, but different from the others considering his experiences by effects of his family wealth.

"Besides…You have someone already protecting you." Sync added referring to a very influential person next to the Ion he knew that had some liking to Arietta. Not that he would say who it was out of a slight dislike for him.

Arietta understood immediately who Sync was implying and flushed madly, nodding slowly at that and ate in silence. But there was something else that caught her attention and stared behind Asch, who did miss the stare and became confused.

"What? Is there some ghost behind me?" The blood haired junior questioned the pinkette, earning shook of "No" from Arietta.

"Maybe it's an octopus." The emerald haired freshmen snickered, ignoring a glare Asch sent toward him.

Silently, Asch turned his head around to figure out what Arietta had been staring at; Sync did the same as well. Now, there was a scene he rather not watches, better term, never in his entire life.

There they were, Luke and Tear, the supposed happy couples were having their intimate moments. A minute or two ago, there was Tear feeding Luke from her lunchbox and the auburn haired junior accept it happily and opened his mouth to eat it. Both of them talking about something that Asch couldn't pick up on, but whatever it is, Tear blushed at that and said something before Luke had turned red as well.

_"…Disgusting…Nothing special about Tear…."_ Asch thought to himself darkly, but continued to stare at the couple and wished he had averted his eyes that moment.

The auburn haired junior leaned forward to press his lips against Tear, who looked surprised and flushed bright scarlet, embarrassed at Luke public display of affections. However, the brunette slide her eyelids closed and replied back to the kisses that lasted for a while. Both their hands moved to lace their fingers together, intertwining them into a soft squeeze. Their faces scarlet of this display of affection before it was Luke that deemed that the kiss would be enough and pulled away, sending Tear, whose breathe taken away by that kiss, a sheepish grin. The brunette recovering her breath smiled at that and chuckled before she handed Luke a bottle of water, her lips parted into some words that made the auburn haired junior flush madly. Luke accepted the offer and the bottle Tear gave, cooling him down quickly and hopes to assist his stomach digestion.

"I'm so surprised they have guts to make out like that in public." Sync spoke sarcastically, through had a disgusted look at the happy couple.

Both pairs of ruby eyes and emerald tilted their head up to find the blood haired junior already standing up, grabbing his bento and bottle of water, and stomp away quickly. There was a dark look on Asch face, his green eyes conflicting with many emotions right now despite trying to put on a neutral look. The pinkette and the emerald haired freshmen silently watched their upperclassman leave the outside and into the building, back to class most likely. When deemed safe to speak, Arietta looked at Sync with an anxious look.

"A-Asch is going to be all right…right…?" The pinkette asked, one of the few besides Sync that knew about Asch crush despite the silence their upperclassman had.

"Don't know, don't really care." The emerald haired freshman shrugged, sending a glance over where Asch last walked before looking at Arietta. "Hopefully, he won't do something stupid."

With that said the two looked over to where the said happy couples were to find them silent and not looking at each other now. Sync raise a brow at that, observing them with his matching emerald eyes and gave some thoughts.

The previous pink mood from earlier wasn't there, the rosy faces of embarrassment had disappeared leaving only an expression of…anxiety and awkwardness. Again, they were still silent and had not looked at each other in the eye. Not even a glance. They must've spoke about something that created this tension filled air between them when the emerald haired freshman didn't hear, not like he had heard anything in the first place.

Arietta seemed to notice something, but made no stance to say and simply observed them as Sync had done. The pinkette clutching her doll tightly after she had finished eating her lunch, the edginess here was uncomfortable for her.

* * *

Fortunately, the lunch bell had ringed out of the blue, signaling for the afternoon classes to begin now. Added, it wouldn't be long till the sprinkles would fall from the completely gray sky. Most of the students, including the said couple and Sync and Arietta headed to their classes to their respective sections. The classes pass by quickly when the rain began to pour like endless tears close to the end of school hours. Sports clubs have been cancelled today due to the weather, leaving the students to go to their other clubs or head back to their dorms unless they dare to walk around the Floating Capital in this gray weather.

In the boys' dormitory, around the third or fourth floors where the juniors occupied mostly, Asch was in his shared room, with the absence of Luke who stayed at school for the band club and lying down on his bed on one side of the room. Their room was same with the majority of the others; two beds with two desk with the basic necessities of a desk lamps, two nightstands with mini clocks added lamp that were sometimes rarely used, one drawers, and one closet. There was a window at the end of the room straight across from the only door that left the room covered by dark tan curtains, but in the redheads' room, the curtains have been moved out to the way to reveal the gray clouds and the relentless rain pounding against the windows. Not that Asch cared, he found the sound of the rain to be the only thing not driving him crazy and wash any of his thoughts about a certain auburn haired man and his girlfriend.

The blood haired man can remember clearly how much they never got along at first, through it was one-sided with his annoyance at Luke. Asch never knew exactly what made him hated Luke, he thought it was the appearances; the fact that Luke looked exactly liked him and was the total opposite of him that annoyed him. The obvious fact that he, Asch Fon Fabre is superior to Luke Lorelei Flammel in every aspect and subject is it school and sports. But there was one thing excluded was that Luke had some things that he, Asch, did not have at all. It was the happiness, the optimism Luke had around him that could cheer someone up even on a bad day. That everyone was attracted to the cheery charisma the auburn haired man had like moths to flames. Sure, Luke wasn't the brightest bulb or the strongest person here, but he was trying hard even if he was clumsily about it. Asch knew that Luke had joined another club than Kendo, which was the band club, and heard of his singing talents along with his magic fingers along the guitar. Coincidentally, he visited one of their concerts before albeit Ginji, another close friend other than Sync and few others, had to drag him since the blood haired man needed some fun and liveliness of the school festivals. Not that he would admit it out loud, but he had been impressed with the band. He could've paid attention to the other members, but there was one person who held his gaze the entire time.

Luke.

And there forth, he began to question these feelings he had for his roommate. These constant dreams of Luke faces haunting him that began so innocent grew to somewhere more intimate by the days passing day in the middle of their freshmen year to the point Asch thought he was going crazy. Worse, was that he was beginning to see Luke in a new light and that wasn't easy considering how Sync noticed it immediately. Damn lettuce head.

Also, there was something he didn't expect Sync to say when the lettuce head had noticed when they were hanging out with Arietta and her crush, E.I**.*** one time. It was a blunt, three worded sentenced that connected all the pieces together to his turmoil.

"You're in love."

That point, Asch wondered if Sync had gone insane, because he knew the lettuce head does not deal or relate to anything in that subject. Apparently, his expression must've said something that time due to a sharp look from Sync that reminded him of the lettuce head and his relationship to N.I.*****. Thus no questions said out loud.

Love, he had to question that emotion.

The closets he ever got to love was love of a parent, his only frail mother, and much as he would dismiss the thought, there were few people he considered close friends. So this emotion was new to him, after all, there was no one special in that kind of manner in his life before Luke. Luke had changed everything the moment they met, talked, and despite how annoying his roommate can be, he found it…charming.

Yet, his life of solitude and silence of being a noble did not make it easy for him to say his feelings loudly to the auburn haired man. Winter had passed quickly, along with spring and heading into summer, and still Asch had not said anything or given any hints. He knew somehow that Luke could never feel the same for him and that only brought more of the hole drilling into his heart. Then what came after only deepen the pain.

Luke had confessed to Tear and Tear had the same feelings for him, and officially were a couple by the start of their sophomore year.

Despite it all, he kept the mask on, no, it wasn't a mask. He acted like himself the entire time, the Ice Prince title, while keeping that mask on around his roommate. For once, he was glad that Luke was oblivious of never noticing his true feelings are, but it didn't stop the auburn haired man to notice something wrong.

Yulia, it was very hard to not lose any control and let himself go that moment when Luke was so close to him, asking what was wrong with a worried look. Asch swore that was the only time he had worked so hard to keep his control and luckily, Luke backed off eventually with a doubted look that his roommate was not all right at all. That time wasn't repeated again, not that Asch would want it to happen again, he didn't know if he could control himself next time.

Honestly, Asch never knew how painful it would be to watch his…love be with someone else, smiling so happily with that loving gaze in those round, innocent green eyes. That spark of life he didn't want to let it fade away ever. That's why he never did anything and acted like his usual anti-social self, even around Luke. He didn't want to ruin Luke happiness, because he was selfish.

Asch sighed loudly and turned around to his side on his bed, facing the wall, and shutting his eyes. There was too much thinking involved and a nice nap while hearing the sound of the rain was nice. But that would have to be delayed when he heard the door open with a loud creek. The blood haired man knew who it was considering that he had locked the door earlier and expected the usual, hyper greeting from Luke. The cute kind that always energetic and brightens the mood even on a rainy day like the sun. He waited and waited, but not a sound when the door finally closed and that made Asch frown.

Letting out a grumble, Asch sat up and opened his eyes to stare at a sight he didn't expect.

His roommate was indeed there, but dripping wet head to toe in his uniform. Heck, practically soaked to the bone would be the better term to use. What really did bother Asch was how quiet Luke was, eerily quiet and staring at the floor in front of the door with his short bangs covering his eyes. Not a movement seen from the auburn haired man.

This worried Asch, very.

"Hey, dreck, what the hell are doing soaked here?" The blood haired man decided to speak up, thinking that Luke would just stand there and be wet for the rest of the hours left.

Then, as if surprised, Luke tilted his head up with an expression Asch couldn't practically bear to see. The sight of Luke reminded him of a wet puppy, hurt with those puppy eyes staring at its master. Hurt, Luke was hurt and Asch frowned more, concern showing for once in his lifetime to care other than his mother. Slowly, Asch got out of bed to walk up to Luke to stop mid-way to hear his soaked roommate speak with the very same hurt tone. That one little sentence broke all hell.

"Tear and I…We…broke up…"

_TBC_

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**A/N:**

Some notes on the** ***...

E.I.* is referring to the Original Ion, also known commonly to me is Evil Ion.

N.I* however is known to me as the replica Ion, the nice one.

Reviews please, criticism are nice~ Just no flames or bashing, I really hate those. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Tales of the Abyss or any Tales of, belongs to Namco Bandai rightfully.  
**Pairing:**  
Main- AschxLuke  
One-sided- LukexTear, AschxNatalia  
Others- JadexGuy, SyncxIon  
Hinted- Original!IonxArietta  
**Warning:** AU, Yaoi, possible sexual content, OOC, and bit of a drama

**A/N:** I won't be doing any A/N at the end of the chapter, it's getting late for me (Actually I feel sleepy and it's close to 1 AM already) and I feel lazy to do any. So...Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all are having a great time! Also, enjoy the chapter, might be somewhat OOC and I tried to keep it best in character I can. Reviews at the end! No flames please! Criticism are helpful along with praises!~

**Helpful Tips:**  
Lorelei- Present time.  
"Lorelei" –Present time speaking  
_Lorelei_- Flashback  
_"Lorelei"_ –Flashback talking/Present time thoughts  
_**"Lorelei"**_ –Flashback Thoughts.  
**Lorelei**- Setting/Dates/Emphasis/Diaries/Phone or Online talking  
**Lorelei**- Chapter Titles/Newspaper Article/Posters

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**Climax: I Won't Let Him Go**

It had been a three days since Asch had seen his roommate come in to their room, soaked from the rain and said the one phrase with those hurt-filled eyes. Now, however, Luke had gotten sick from the rain and had to take a few days off with him, Asch, taking care of the auburn haired man. Currently, Luke was lying down on his bed covered in blankets from toe to above his chest, his usually pale-tan cheeks were now flush red, and his forehead covered in sweat. His rosy lips parted into heavy pants and coughs that sounded painful in his sleep.

Asch sat there on the edge of his roommate bed the entire time, only leaving to answer any calls, bathroom breaks, or when he needed to change rags or Luke requesting some water. He stayed there next to Luke the entire time with a worried look, reaching a hand out to press against his flush red cheeks to find him feverish still. The blood haired man bit his lower lip and grabbed the wet rag that was now warm to dip it into a bowl full of cool water, removing any excessive water with a twist before placing it back onto Luke forehead.

_"His fever isn't going down…"_ The blood haired man observed, thinking he should grab an ice pack and stood up slowly from Luke bed to only be held back.

His green eyes blinked in confusion, looking back down to see Luke hand holding onto his tightly. Asch cheeks flushed at the contact, realizing how warm his roommate and crush hand was. Whatever images went through Asch mind at that moment was lost when Luke began to speak in a ragged voice.

"Don't…go…" The sick auburn haired man panted out, coughing shortly, but no less held onto Asch desperately like his roommate was his only lifeline. His feverish face appeared melancholy, almost as if experiencing a nightmare in his sleep.

Reluctantly, due to wanting to grab an ice pack to help reduce Luke fever, Asch sat back down slowly and stared at the solemn expression his roommate had. He never had seen Luke sick before in the last two years they were roommates, perhaps heard his roommate scream once or twice (But he told him to shut up and go back to sleep), yet that was all. He never thought that Luke would have nightmares before. Luke was just too innocent for those evil dreams haunting his mind and wondered how bad his nightmare was to the point of seeking company.

Asch pondered over this sort of thing, thinking that Luke as a child had a family member or friend to cling to when he was sick before. Yes, that could be it and his roommate was simply seeking company from him now in his feverish state. Speaking of his fever, Asch slowly squeezed Luke hand, taking in the intense warmth those hands radiated.

_"He's really warm..."_ The blood haired man thought, finding himself lost in that warmth once more despite that his Luke might be just suffering from the fever causing his body to heat up.

His Luke.

Yeah, he declared Luke as his for the time-being, not that he would act on his feelings, much less say them yet. He needed to wait until the time was right and was absolutely sure that Luke was over Tear, and most of all, sharing the same feelings as he did.

Speaking of Tear, Asch couldn't help scowl at the name, finding it the most appalling thing in existence itself. How could someone shameless as her do something to Luke like that? Especially since Luke had been doing his best to please her the entire time, doing everything he can to make her happy in turn making his Luke happy.

The blood haired man shut his eyelids slowly, relishing the memory still fresh in his mind at that light lost in Luke eyes in that moment. Those…anguishes feelings conflicting with another darker, relishing one that Asch himself couldn't describe it all in one word.

_"Tear and I…We…broke up…"_

_That one sentence, there were so many emotions hurling toward Asch being, faster than a missile itself. But his expression was stiff; trying to look neutral as ever, but there was an evident frown of confusion marring his handsome face that showed his curiosity to however why in the first place._

_Why would Tear Grants, who Asch considered to be the luckiest person, man or woman, to let go of the most unselfish and brightest (not in intelligence terms) man ever?_

_There was anger he felt at the fact that HIS Luke looked so miserable, so hurt and knew that Tear had done something to him at least. Yet, there was something else he could describe as…relief. Relief that Luke is single, free for anyone to take or Luke could take if he wishes too, not that Asch was going to let that happen now. He was going to make sure that he would do anything to get Luke over Tear and have his roommate fall in love with him._

_However, before he can think more of his personal feelings, the anger had rush back again to his pondering of why did they break up? What did Tear do? Or did Luke do something…?_

_The blood haired man noticed the intense stare of his hurt-filled Luke and remembered he was still dripping wet. Keeping a cool look, trying to make himself look angry as possible, he shook his head and scowled at Luke._

_"Dreck, you need a bath. Now, before you get sick." Asch stated, moving now to grab Luke hand when there was no response from his roommate._

_"…What are you doing, Asch…?" The auburn haired man asked numbly, blinking at this alienated gesture._

_"Dragging you to the bathing rooms so you could get washed up, dried up, and wearing dry cloths." The blood haired man muttered, looking annoyed as possible._

_"Oh…" Was the only response Luke gave, but made no movement to object._

_Letting out another sigh, Asch left their room quickly while dragging Luke, better word be manhandling due to a responsive dreck right now. The blood haired man didn't bother to care if the other students were staring at him dragging Luke downstairs to the bathing area. Nor did Luke care if people were staring at him, because he was soaked and he was being dragged by Asch. Asch simply wanted to give Luke his warm bath, give him dry cloths and put him in bed before he got sick._

_A sneeze got the blood haired man attention, but never stopping and Asch simply glance behind him. Luke was there, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand and looked at his roommate with those same empty eyes. His face was flushed red, close to matching to the color his hair now and Asch cursed at this. Hurriedly, Asch proceeded to turn his head back to the front and continued walking till they had reach the bathing rooms. The name applies exactly to this large room; it was similar to those inside home hot-springs. Beyond the changing room full of shelves along with toilets and sinks in a nearby room, right at the entrance of wooden floors and not so far were one giant baths with rocks laying around the perimeter with decorative bamboos to give the room a more nature feel, homely even. Steam covered the room from the constant hot baths, fogging up slightly the nearby showers and where the buckets lay stacked up._

_The blood haired men slide the door behind them in the changing rooms after arriving and letting go of Luke hand. He knew that no one would be heading to the baths at this time, but to be sure, he locked the door for the time-being. Asch turned over to find the numb auburn haired man standing there and staring at him. He frowned seeing the dizzy look and the heavy breathing Luke was emitting, letting out an irritated sigh, he stared back at Luke with narrow eyes._

_"Undress, dreck." Asch demanded with arms crossed, glaring at Luke still._

_"…Don't need a bath…" Luke spoke for once other than being questioned and looked to the side._

_"Don't need a….? ….Brat…." The blood haired man thought irritably while the glare only intensified, he didn't want to deal with Luke brat like moods at this point._

_"Either undress or I WILL do it for you, dreck." Asch repeated, leaving no rooms for arguments._

_There was a minute silence hanging over them and it seemed Luke realized he had no excuses, nor any time to act like a brat this minute. The auburn haired man sighed in defeat, closing his eyes and turned around to begin undressing. The buttons being undone with a faint clasp, starting with the outer coat that fell to the ground with a thud and then left the wet white shirt that reveal Luke skin underneath the light fabric. The ribbon undone and had joined the coat on the floor along the way, and Luke numbly was unaware of the rising scarlet cheeks of his roommate staring just behind him a few feet away._

_Asch had realized how much trouble he would be in the moment he saw patches of Luke skin underneath the white shirt and felt the blood rising to his cheeks. His sharp green eyes observed the white fabric slowly being let down, revealing the soft looking shoulders dampened by the rain that made the blood haired man to want to lean his lips over Luke skin and give them soft kisses, maybe a few sucks here and there. He realized what he was thinking and shook his head to rid of such images, mainly urges since that would be bad for his lower body. But the shirt went lower and lowers, revealing more of the soft skin and smooth back that made the blush on Asch cheeks rise, and there were many images he would rather not speak loudly of, such as the urge to run his hand against the smooth back, enjoying such texture of Luke skin and dip his hand lower and lower._

_"No! Stop thinking about that! Think of something else…Like Professor Dist and Professor Curtiss together….Van in an ugly red dress with a high pitch voice…Sync and rappigs…Okay, those are all disturbing images…" Asch eyebrow twitch at the said images, through he found the Van in the ugly red dress funny. And it worked actually as the blood haired man no longer felt the urges to potentially rape Luke in the changing room._

_"Asch?" Luke voice snapped the blood haired man thoughts, through somewhat meek and weak sounding to Asch worry._

_"What?" The blood haired man turned his head to face a sight he wished he had not want to witness at this time due to his only recent cool down._

_To his surprise, Asch, who was glad that he was able to calm down a few seconds earlier now was beaten by the sight of his naked roommate in only a white towel and carrying a bucket with soaps in it. A full blush returned to the blood haired man face as he stared at his almost naked roommate and words were too knotted up in his throat to even speak at the sight. Asch felt very lucky while at the same time feeling unfortunate at the same time. His green eyes roam the bare skin that was all in front of him, taking in all the details of the outlines of Luke body. Unlike his own slightly more masculine build, Luke was more feminine yet lean with those abs showing and those soft looking legs trailing up to the hips that were covered by a towel. Asch simply wanted to have his way with his roommate and lean down to see the white skin of the inner thighs that no one (Well, he didn't know if Luke was still a virgin or not. But he had a hunch since there was nothing off about Luke when he was still with Tear, only puffy and swollen lips from a make out) ever saw before, and wondered if…._

_"Are you going to take a bath with me?" The auburn haired man asked, unaware of Asch inner turmoil nor how sly his question was._

_For a moment, Asch swore he would faint right there with all the images tackling him head on. A bath. With Luke. Who was asking the blood haired man to take a bath with him. And if it weren't for the reality that Luke was heartbroken by Tear, Asch would've snapped there for the rest of the night._

_He let out an irritable sigh, letting his mind go back to the ugly, disturbing yet funny images earlier and that did the trick. Without a word, he silently undressed himself and grabbed a towel nearby to wrap around his hips, in short he was naked in minutes. They were in the bathing rooms anyway and there was no way in hell he was going to skip a bath, even for one day. The blood haired man turned around with his own bucket to find his roommate staring rather intently at him and that made Asch cheeks flare up faintly, but restrained to control himself as he let out a shrug and pointed to the door leading to the baths. It was a simple "Get in there before I make you" due to remembering how disobedient Luke was earlier._

_Luke raise a brow at that gesture before shrugging his shoulders and made his way to the baths with Asch trailing behind him with hawk eyes, making sure that his roommate was doing as he said._

_So after the silent and awkward bath with Asch making sure Luke had washed his hair and body to the point of squeaky clean (Added, he made sure he had self-control the entire time) much to his roommate annoyances before washing himself. It was the point of relaxation after that with Asch staring intensely at the auburn haired man, who would rather stare at the water with those blank green eyes, deep in thought to be exact. The blood haired man knew what Luke most likely is thinking of; Tear Grants still. In the middle of his thoughts of wondering how both Luke and Tear broke up and about to ask his roommate is when Asch noticed how…heavily panting Luke is, along with his flushed red face and his eyes half-lidded. Before Asch could say anything, Luke simply sank down a little into the hot water and the blood haired man knew he should get his roommate out of the bath now._

_Asch made sure to dry his roommate and himself quickly, changing into new cloths and had to literally carry an unconscious and very flushed Luke back to their room. Again, he ignored any stares he got as he headed up to their room. Immediately, he put the auburn haired man down on his own bed and covered him in blankets as he left the room briefly to return with a bowl full of cold water and a towel or two. There, he damped the towel and twisted off any excess water to place them upon Luke forehead. The blood haired man let out an irritated sigh and simply sat down on the edge of his roommate bed, taking a book from nearby, which belonged to Luke._

_"He's not going to wake up for a while…Might as well read…" Asch thought to himself as he read the fictional story that told about a valiant hero who was a spoiled brat at first, but grew to become selfless as he faced hardships throughout the story. It was interesting enough, but sort of predictable at some point with the saving the entire world thing._

_Selfless…Like his Luke that was sleeping right now, but was he spoiled at first?_

_If the blood haired man thought about, he never knew much about Luke himself and only heard bits and bits. Such as that Luke was a good singer, an adorable kid, quite a looker, the most optimistic person, the most helpful, etc._

_What about Luke himself?_

_Asch wondered what Luke was like when he was a kid or even before they had met, he was curious to know about it all. Luke dislikes and likes, his favorites, like his food so that he can cook (Really he is one hell of a good cook) for Luke to eat and see the brightest smiles ever. There were a lot of things he wanted to know more about Luke, but he would do that slowly later. Right now however, Luke needed to recover and get over his love for Tear._

_"Mm…" A groan emitted from the auburn haired boy, his eyelids open up slowly, his pupils unfocused momentarily as he tried to figure out where he is. Luke even attempted to sit up to only find hands pressing against his shoulders and pushing him back to the bed gently. The auburn haired man green eyes blinked, confused for a moment and stared up to see it was his roommate, Asch, with an annoyed look yet there was something else in his glaring eyes that spoke louder._

_"A-Asch…?" Luke questioned in a ragged voice, coughing shortly and covered his mouth with his hand._

_"Don't even mutter a thing, dreck…" Came Asch irritated mumble, hiding his true emotions for his roommate._

_"…Where…What….?" The auburn haired man continued, ignoring Asch mumbles to only cough again._

_"In our room….You fainted at the bath and I had to carry you back, dreck." The blood haired man answered his roommate broken and unfinished question, beginning to look more annoyed when Luke didn't heed his words._

_"O-Oh…sorry…*cough*….Asch…And….thanks…" Luke apologized softly, looking guilty that he bothered Asch, yet there was a faint smile tugging his lips at his grumpy roommate kindness._

_"…Just hurry up and get better so I won't have to look after you anymore." Asch demanded, turning his gaze away from Luke and went back to reading his book while Luke watch with intent eyes._

_The auburn haired man sadly did not notice the faint blush on his roommate cheeks in his flushed state. Luke was trying to remember what had happened in his depressed state. He was waiting for Tear at the school so he could walk her back to her dorms and sees her later before heading back to his dorm, but…_

_"…Asch…?" Luke called out weakly to his roommate._

_"What?" Asch questioned, not moving his attention from the book, but his eyes glance over to the auburn hair boy to show he was listening._

_"…I'm sorry…You…were worried and taking care of me…" The auburn haired man apologized once more, the guilty look once there._

_It was a few seconds, almost as if Asch debated on something before sighing loudly and shut his book, putting it down somewhere on the bed and looked at Luke now. His usual glaring eyes were lacing annoyance, but held some confusion and worry in them. The blood haired man had Luke full attention now._

_"…Luke…" Asch began, using Luke name for once which earned a blink of curiosity from Luke. "Why…did you and Tear break up?"_

_There was silence from Luke; the previous expression forbid of any warmth was there as he stared at Asch more intently now._

_"I mean…You two seem like the perfect couple…" The blood haired man added, unsure what to say next, growing worried of Luke silence and felt that it was too soon to ask maybe._

_"…We're not…Tear and I…our relationship has been...up and down for some time…I think about since shortly our junior year began." The auburn haired man spoke up slowly, sighing in depression and shut his eyes to open them once again to look at Asch, getting permission to continue without interruptions. Asch nodded and didn't speak, letting Luke continue now._

_"I…found out that…Tear had been working part time as a hostess to get some extra money since she is living by herself after her older brother left her for his own work and so Tear had to live for herself…I didn't like it at first and tried to persuade Tear to give it up, but she didn't…and she said she knew what she was doing and that I was just worrying too much. I was worried, because…I'm her boyfriend and I don't like the fact she's is acting intimate with other men and trying to get them to drink and other reasons too. But no less I trusted her…We did argue sometimes since I kept trying to persuade her to give up her job as a host, yet that was one of the reasons."_

_Asch gave a slight nod; through inside he was surprised to hear such things. He never thought someone serious such as Tear would work as a hostess, she seem the kind of person who would despise such jobs that included something dirty as that. But he wondered how Tear passed out as an adult- Wait, never mind. The blood haired heard a sigh emitted from Luke and noticed tiredness in his face, either from the fever or the subject of this conversation brought some troubling memories._

_"I noticed that we've been distant lately…well, Tear was. There had been less time we spent with each other excluding school and the weekends when I invite her out, she rejects it most of the time. Whenever I question her about it, she just acted cold and said that she had been busy, unable to spend time with me. I didn't…think she was hiding something. But when there was a day or two when we were able to talk and she was in a good mood, we talked, and as you know in most relationships they go…to the next step. I asked Tear about it, but she said she wasn't ready and wanted to wait, and I respected that and waited for two months for her. She…never mentioned it again and I didn't, because I think she wasn't ready yet. But the last few weeks or so, she looked…nervous each time I waited for her after club activities. And today…."_

_At this point, Luke simply rolled over to his side and faces the wall, clutching the blankets over him in attempt to hide his face now. Asch raised a brow at this, not missing how heart-broken Luke was while he talked about his and Tear distances, the change of their relationships. There was a mumble the blood haired man couldn't catch and it seem Luke knew it too as again he spoke louder for Asch to hear._

_"…Today when Tear was taking longer than usual to meet up with me, I looked around for her. I knew where she was since she told me she was asked to help around in one of the Infirmary close by…and…a-and when I went there…I…I saw her…having…with the…It was one of those guys who used to try to pick fights with me back in my freshmen year…He and Tear…were having sex on the bed when I walked in…and they saw me, yet continued…I…I didn't even want to hear or look at it…I left there quickly back at the school entrance where it was raining already…I didn't have an umbrella, I forgot it…I stood there, unable to think of what just happened…"_

_Quiet sobbing were heard from Luke as he stopped there for now to let out his emotions, knowing it would hurt his head like hell later if he cried yet didn't care. Asch let the surprise show on his face to hear something like that. He wasn't heartless; he was still human to certain extents and could understand how Luke was feeling._

_To find the person you loved and cared for with all your heart and body, to give all your time and do your best to make the person happy, cheating on you._

_A dark look crossed Asch face, disgusted now at Tear for doing something as being unfaithful to Luke behind his back. His Luke, who was the sweetest and selfless person ever was now crying out his broken heart. No, maybe Luke heart had been breaking for a while and the blood haired man could only curse in his head on how he missed all of this, brooding over the fact Tear and Luke were together most likely._

_He wasn't the best person to look comfort too, but if it was for Luke at least, he could try. Silently listening to Luke sobbing that clearly spoke of distress, the blood haired man raise a hand to reach out to Luke and place it on his roommate auburn locks. The auburn haired man seemed surprise, stopping his sobbing to lower the blankets down to glance at Asch, revealing his already red face and puffy eyes swollen from crying, and hiccups were heard as he send Asch a questioning look. All of Luke answers were questioned by that one look of worry from Asch, who gave a small nod, and the auburn haired man smiled at his roommate concern._

_"T-Thanks, I…should finish...After…while I was waiting, Tear came running toward me looking flushed and disheveled….She…looked worry and kept calling me, but I didn't hear her and without realizing it, I had asked "How long?". I must've had a cold tone in it, because Tear looked scared and didn't answer for a while. When she did, she told me it had been for some weeks now…." Luke paused there to only laugh softly, a hollowed laugh that slightly scared Asch due to the face he had known his roommate as the usual bright and full of warmth Luke. No less, Asch was silent and let Luke continued after his short laugh stopped._

_"I...I questioned her why…And she said that…I…couldn't give her what she wanted and that our relationship isn't the same anymore since I found out about her part time job. I didn't know what she wanted…I…I tried you know…But, I guess it really didn't work out…So, I got angry and frustrated at her that she could've at least been honest in telling me that she wanted to break up instead of going behind my back and ignoring me most of the time. Tear…was shocked to hear me yell, but said nothing because she knows it's true…I left after that, ran straight to the dorms in the rain." Ended Luke little story of why he and Tear broke up, all without Asch interrupting and being a good listener._

_The auburn haired teen let out a sigh, a very tired and depressed sigh as he snuggled against the blankets more. He felt cold, really cold and wanted to be warm._

_"….Just shut up for the rest of the night, sleep, and you better get recovered, dreck." Asch spoke up for the first time after choosing to be silent since Luke had asked him to be quiet as his roommate explained his story. The blood haired man wasn't one of words, but he gave his respect and concern. More importantly, it was HIS Luke._

_"…Mmkay…"Came Luke mumbled response, unable to resist a smile and close his eyes._

_In minutes, a light snore was heard and Asch knew that his roommate had fallen asleep. The blood haired man let out a sigh, a sigh signifying many things yet most of all it was this hectic night. He ran a hand against his blood colored locks, letting his bangs fall against his face and look at his sleeping roommate with his green eyes that held many emotions. Emotions that he wouldn't let Luke see for the time-being, for now, he simply waited for the auburn haired man to rest up and recovers from his sickness._

Several knocks on the door of the redheads' room snapped the blood haired man out of his thoughts. Asch frowned when the knocks continued and shook his head in annoyance, glancing at his roommate that held his hand still and with reluctance pry his fingers away from Luke still warm hand. He felt a tinge of guilt hearing a scared whine, but Asch knew he had to answer the door before it would wake Luke up from his needed rest. He stood up from the bed, walking over to the door in a few strides, and just before another knock can be heard, Asch opened the door after unlocking it. Irritation laces his features to see a familiar emerald haired freshman in his uniform and next to the said freshman was a teen that Asch knew well enough. He was taller than Asch by a couple inches, easily considered to be good-looking with his finely shaped face and build, his naturally blond spiky hair, marveled navy blue eyes that would usually sparkle with optimism now held worry in them, and the blond was a junior judging by the myrtle color ribbon he wore on his uniform. If it were considered to be a ribbon as his uniform was done loosely with the few buttons of the collar and his ribbon left undone.

"…Sync and Guy Cecil, what do you two want?" Asch demanded in a low tone, showing that he was not pleased with their sudden visit.

Sync couldn't help roll his eyes at the typical moody blood haired junior in front of him, not making a move to say anything since the blond, Guy did already.

"We…" Guy paused to glance at Sync before looking at Asch, rephrasing his words. "I'm here to check on Luke after convincing Ja-I mean, Professor Curtiss that I can take some the rest of the day off to make sure Luke is all right. "

"…And what about him over there?" Asch gestured to Sync with a tilt of his head, understanding Guy reason, but never Sync.

"Your teachers wanted me to hand you the notes of the classes so far since you had missed three days worth of classes." Sync answered bluntly, but made no attempt to hand out the said notes.

"Tch…Just hand them over already, do whatever you need to do and leave." The blood haired man said in the same low tone, giving the two a glare before turning around and walked back inside the room, leaving the door open for the two free to walk inside.

The two didn't miss the gesture and walked inside the two redheads' room, Guy closing the door behind him and looked around. It had been the first time for the blond to be in Luke room, well, Asch and Luke room and he never visited since Asch was here all the time. Guy perked up to a small whine and immediately turned around to see his best friend in a sick state on the bed. Luke was sleeping, he knew that, and was suffering judging the heavy pants, his flushed face covered in sweat was desperately trying to be cooled down by a towel draped over his forehead.

There was another sight Guy himself couldn't believe is that the moment he heard that whine, Asch was immediately next to Luke. The blood haired junior taking the towel, a scowl etched on his face, and his eyebrows furrowed in deep thoughts before using the towel to wipe off the sweat on Luke face. Then wet the towel once again in cool water, ridding any excess and place it once again on Luke forehead before taking a seat on the edge of the bed. When his best friend whined, his hand moved to search for something that Guy knew what it was; comfort and safety and that's what Asch gave when he held the auburn haired junior hand. He blinked and stared at this scene for a moment, realizing he had forgotten what he wanted to do here.

Now if Sync had a camera, he would be taking pictures at this point of a miraculous discovery unknown to human society. Asch, the most grumpiest and anti-social person he had ever known that came from a filthy rich family was now acting like the most caring person ever to his crush, Luke Lorelei Flammel. Sadly, he would have to imprint this scene into his mind no matter how mushy and sweet it was the point of giving him cavities if he wanted to make some memorials for future blackmailing until the blood haired junior and his roommate become a pair, which would be a rather long time. Those thoughts set aside, he did wondered what had happened in the last few days and chose to speak up instead of Guy flabbergasted look.

"So, Asch…What did happen to Flammel over there?" The emerald haired freshman asked, through his question somewhat vague due to so many mysteries swirling in the air.

"…He got sick from being soaked in the rain and I have to look after him. Does that answer your question?" The blood haired junior caring mood for his roommate now gone, sending the two outsiders a stern and questioning stare.

"Yes and no, there's more you do know that, right?" Sync raise a brow at that stare Asch gave him, but would not budge at all until he got his answers.

The blood haired junior continued to stare, no emotions shown and simply narrow his eyes to a glare. Sync brush off Asch glare like it was a routine, tapping his foot impatiently and waited for an answer. Even if they had to be stuck here for a long while, and that thought along with the intense one-sided staring contest had Guy laugh nervously at this air. The blond chose to the break the moment, turning his attention to Asch with his usual polite smile that looked rather strained.

"S-Speaking of that, have you heard Asch? That there is quite a popular gossip around the school that has been spreading?" Guy questioned Asch, noticing a slightly thoughtful look about him and decided to continue where there was a shook of "No" from the blood haired junior. However, the blond shot a glance at his best friend to make sure Luke wasn't listening to this conversation, not that a sick person still suffering from a fever would be awake long enough to hear, no less Guy went on.

"Apparently Tear and Luke broke up…Natalia spread the gossip, as they're both friends, and no one knows why since those two were a perfect couple." The blond announced, blinking when he heard a whimper from the sick redhead sleeping.

"…T-Tear…." Luke coughed out in his sleep, rolling to his side, and curled up into a ball.

Asch growled irritably, grabbing the towel that fell just now and attempted to make sure it stayed on Luke forehead. Then the blood haired junior turn his head to send Guy a very dark glare, which made the blond pale considerably. Sync remains uninterested as ever, but had a spark of curiosity in his eyes that had him listen more intently than ever. The emerald haired freshmen couldn't hold a snicker at the fidgeting upperclassmen being glared by the grumpy redhead; he assumed that Guy had hit a nerve or so. And his assumptions were correct when he heard the next words spilled from Asch lips.

"Don't mention that whore…The dreck is here is sick after finding out she cheated." The blood haired man warned bluntly, having no problem saying what he thought was true. Asch ignored the small gasp from Guy, especially with the blond jaw literally falling a bit and showed no care to Sync reaction.

The emerald haired freshmen raised a brow in response to those blunt words from his upperclassman, promptly ignoring Guy as well for further interest in what had happened.

"Oh? Tear Grants cheated on Luke Lorelei Flammel? That's quite an event there." Sync huffed a bit, his small smirk showing that he was definitely curious.

"What…How…?" Came from a recovered Guy from the vital piece of news, his words staggering now on border of confusion and anger. "That's impossible really…Tear…I don't even see that trait in her and I don't pin any blame on Luke…"

"Because Tear acts like a damn angle on the outside when she's the devil on the inside, Guy." Asch cut in Guy response, his glare still poring through the blond being. He couldn't stop the piled up frustrations and anger peaking up at this point, letting his emotions take control of his words for once in a while.

"This idiot here came home dripping wet, coming down to a fever after I asked him what the hell happened and he told me that he and Tear broke up. I didn't ask why since I needed the dreck to take his bath and change into dry cloths, and have him go to sleep. He was hit with a fever anyway and while waiting for the dreck to head to dreamland, I asked him why did he and Tear broke up….He told me that his ex-girlfriend was taking one hell of a long time than usual to meet up with him afterschool, the dreck went to look for her and what did he found in the infirmary?" Asch pauses there, daring for the two to answer. He needed a breath before continuing to speak, gauging whatever anticipation the emerald haired freshman and the blond had which seem to be curious.

However, Guy looked more scared due to the dark look crossing Asch features while Sync remains neutral as ever.

"Luke found his ex girlfriend fucking with one of his bullies back in his freshmen year." Normally Asch wouldn't let many curses out, unless he was moody or angry, and this was one of those angry moods.

Sync blinked however at that one sentence, looking rather perplexed as Guy expression was rather shock. It was silent for a few minutes, Asch calming down quickly from letting that small burst out and the two recovering from their staggering.

"…Well now, that's a rather interesting image there. How did Luke there react?" Sync was the first to break the silence, pointing to the sick redhead on the bed.

"…From what he told me, he left there quickly and headed to the school entrance. He didn't have an umbrella, so stood there until Tear came after him and after Luke had questioned her, he got angry and frustrated even. He said he yelled at her and wanted to know why she wasn't even honest with him, then left when there wasn't an answer from Tear." Asch shrugged; summarizing what had happened at the last part and looked at Luke, who seemed to be sleeping, before glancing at Guy to see what he had to say.

"I don't know what to say or to believe. It's just…this seems all too unreal here." The blond spoke up, scratching the back of his head nervously. His mind debating between what was true or not true at all, but he had a dark look on his face. He let his hand fall to his side and stared at the sick Luke before looking at Asch.

"…I don't give a damn about what you believe in, I just want this idiot to hurry up and get better." Asch scoffs a bit at Guy response, turning away from the blond to keep his full attention on Luke now.

"All right, I care about Luke...But hey, I'll talk to him when he gets better to make sure I hear the same thing I heard from you." Guy raised his hands in surrender, his smile straining at Asch words.

"It doesn't concern me if you want to confirm it or not…If you're done with your business here to check on the dreck, who needs rest obviously, then leave." The blood haired junior demanded, not looking a Guy at all now, and paid close observation on Luke fever.

"…Right, I'll come back later." The blond nearly sighed out of frustration due to the conversation, and conversations with Asch usually were tiring in his opinion.

Guy slowly retreated, walking backwards toward the door to move out of the way and watched in interest of the moody attitude were now directed at Sync, who stood there the entire time and yawned slightly, covering it up with a hand. The emerald haired freshmen expression was bored since the conversations he had eavesdropped were beginning to bore him and kept a neutral stare against Asch glare. As much Guy is interested in what would go, he said he would leave and leave he will, and showed no more interest when he left the redheads room.

"And what are you still doing here? I thought you were going to drop the notes and leave." Asch demanded, noticing that Sync presence still in the room.

"Correction, that was my original intention till I saw Flammel there sick in bed and couldn't help listening to your little explanation, so stayed." The emerald haired freshman said nonchalantly, giving his upperclassmen an inquiring stare.

Annoyed by the answer and the previous confrontations, the blood haired junior simply shrugged and went back to watching Luke with that same unreadable expression yet tried to hide it with his angry look. A heavy silence forming in the room, the only sounds audible were the breathings of a sick redhead.

"…Are you going to make your move or what?" Sync asked, breaking the silence and crossing his arms.

The question spurred a reaction from Asch, turning his head sharply to glare darkly at Sync with narrow green eyes. The emerald haired freshmen returned it with his neutral one, glancing between Luke and Asch as if searching for something that hasn't occurred yet.

"Tch…No, I'm not underhanded to take advantage of the dreck like that." Asch answered in a low tone.

"Strange...I thought you would be happy, act like a fool, and confess to Flammel, and possibly have a happy ending." The emerald haired freshmen stated with a hint of a small amused smile, through faint, it dropped when there was a sigh emitted from Asch.

"Here I thought you were suppose to be the smart one…I'm not going to force my feelings on the dreck." The blood haired man retorted, scoffing at Sync so called intelligence.

"Right…But if you don't do something; someone else might take him away, or worse…Tear." Sync added rather helpfully.

Normally, Asch would've cared less about Sync advice as they were usually not so helpful, but however…He couldn't help think that his lowerclassmen had a point. A very good point about this since its possible Luke might not wait for him nor the capital L in life would wait for the stoic redhead to muster up some will, and confess to the auburn haired man. Nope, life with a capital L would simply go on without a care in the world.

Another groan emitted from Luke, the auburn haired junior fever breaking slowly from what Asch could tell by placing his hand against Luke forehead. The blood haired junior ignored anything else Sync had to say and focused on Luke for now.

Maybe Sync had a very good point, at least, he could wait till Luke was over Tear and made sure no one else takes advantage of Luke broken heart.

_TBC_


End file.
